Chicago Teachers Go On One-Day Strike To Protest Budget Cuts
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Public School teachers walked off the job on Friday in what the teachers' union is calling a "Day Of Action" to protest city and state education funding cuts.
Chicago Public Schools officials tried to reassure parents that they will take care of students Friday if parents cannot stay home with them.
There will be about 250 sites across the city where children can go, including school buildings, park district facilities and churches, CPS CEO Forrest Claypool said Thursday.
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CTA transportation will be free to students from 5:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. Claypool urged parents to register their kids with CPS for Friday so that staff will know how many young people to expect.
Chicago teachers have been without a contract since last summer.
The union's strike Friday is evolving into a larger protest against a budget stalemate in Springfield.
"What we expect is a quality education for your students," said teacher's union vice president Jesse Sharkey. "That's what our students deserve.
"For this day, we are being joined by tens of thousands of others, like university students who are losing [state grant money]."
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said the people nationwide are watching what is happening in Chicago because "enough is enough."
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis appeared at Beasley Elementary School on Friday. She told protesters that teachers "are dying a death of a thousand cuts."
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner strongly denounced the walkout in a statement issued by his office on Friday.
"It's shameful that Chicago's children are the victims in this raw display of political power," according to the statement. "Walking out on kids in the classroom, leaving parents in the lurch and thumbing their nose at taxpayers -- it's the height of arrogance from those we've entrusted with our children's futures."
Mayor Rahm Emanuel told reporters, "I believe kids should be in school, learning. I do believe that while there is a legitimate point to be made, it should not be taken out at the expense of our children."
The CTU has a full day planned for members.
It started at 6:30 a.m. Friday, at several schools across Chicago.
Among the many demonstrations after that will be a New Orleans-style jazz funeral symbolizing the death of education at 10 a.m. at Northeastern Illinois University; a noon rally at Chicago State University, which is facing massive layoffs; and a 4 p.m. rally and protest march that begins at the James R. Thompson Center.
Other groups are joining, including those fighting for a $15 minimum wage.
Friday's actions also could foreshadow a longer strike over a new labor contract, which by law can't occur for several weeks. A new poll, conducted by Global Strategy Group for Stand For Children Illinois, found that two-thirds of Chicago residents favor a negotiated solution, overwhelmingly rejecting another school strike.
The Chicago Teachers Union last went on strike in 2012, shutting down schools for more than a week before reaching an agreement with Mayor Rahm Emanuel. That contract expired in June, and the two sides have been negotiating for more than a year over a new one.
CPS, which faces a $1.1 billion budget deficit and billions more in pension debt, already has halted salary increases, ordered teachers to take three furlough days and imposed other cuts to schools.
It reached an agreement earlier this year with union leadership on a proposal that included salary increases. But a larger union bargaining team rejected it, partly because it required employees to contribute more toward their pensions and health insurance.
Contributing: Associated Press
